Meta, Snap Face Heat Over Child Safety
News Desk
Islamabad: Under mounting pressure from regulators, major social media and gaming platforms are racing to strengthen child safety measures, with Snap Inc., Meta Platforms and Roblox Corporation pledging new protections aimed at shielding young users from harmful online interactions.
The announcements came after renewed scrutiny from Ofcom, which has intensified pressure on tech companies over concerns about child safety on digital platforms.
According to Ofcom, the companies have committed to introducing stronger safeguards, including stricter default privacy settings for children’s contact lists and friendship groups, improved controls for direct messaging and the use of artificial intelligence tools to detect potentially harmful behaviour.
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The regulator said the changes are intended to better protect children from online strangers and harmful interactions that have become a growing concern for governments and parents worldwide.
However, Ofcom also singled out TikTok and YouTube, claiming both platforms failed to offer significant new commitments to reduce harmful content recommendations for younger users.
While TikTok and YouTube maintained that their existing systems already provide safe experiences for children, Ofcom challenged those claims, saying evidence collected by the regulator suggests current protections remain insufficient.
The criticism accompanied the release of a new Ofcom report compiling responses from major technology companies following the regulator’s latest call for tougher online child protection measures.
The latest developments reflect growing global pressure on digital platforms to demonstrate stronger accountability as governments move toward stricter online safety regulations for children and teenagers.
